Cahalan-Laitusis, C. (2004). Accommodations on high-stakes writing tests for students with disabilities (RR-04-13). Educational Testing Service. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2333-8504.2004.tb01940.x

Also accessible through ETS Research webpage at https://www.ets.org/research/policy_research_reports/publications/report/2004/hyrb

In this review of current accommodations for writing on high school exit examinations and three testing organizations—ACT, College Board, and ETS—research related to accommodations for presentation, response, setting, and timing and scheduling was reviewed. Presentation accommodations included braille, large print, audio presentation (read-aloud) in various formats, and screen reading software (with selected-response and constructed-response items). Response accommodations included word processing—including spell-check—of essays, constructed response of spelling, and dictated response (scribe). The setting accommodation included background music. The timing and scheduling accommodations included extra or extended-time. Additionally, newer assistive technologies for writing were discussed.

The participants in this literature review were not reported for each of the research articles reviewed. The relevant studies pertained to the U.S. educational system.

The dependent variables in this literature review included various types of high-stakes achievement testing in writing for students with disabilities at the high school level, in both selected-response and constructed-response item formats.

The results of this literature review and expository report on accommodations for writing on high school exit examinations and various postsecondary admissions tests yielded that the limited research offered some conclusions which are tentative. The extended-time accommodation might improve students' writing performance, although differential boost has not been established. Several studies indicated that there is bias by test graders against essays which are typed. Essays composed with word processors received higher scores than handwritten essays when the test-takers had substantial computer experience. The report ends with a discussion of assistive technologies being applied to writing tests and tasks.